And now the end is near, its time to face the final curtain...

I´d loved Rio so much the first time that I felt I hadn´t given it long enough. So by plane I hopped up the coast to the City of Dreams; and the next two days didn´t dissapoint:

- Hand gliding over the beaches and favelas

- Nearly drowining in the currents of Ipanema

- Savouring the sushi at Sushi Leblon

- Catching the electric atmosphere at a local football game at the maracana

- Grinding to the beat of the best Favela funk DJ in the city

- Taking the Cog Train up to the Corcovado to drop my jaw at the view

- Plotting a documentary with a samba band from the UK

- Bigging up my last night in Lapa at a Bloco street party and samba in the Rio Scenarium

and there the tale ends.

or does it...

Motorcycles and Misconceptions - Rochina Favela Rio

The favela is undoubtedly a dangerous place if you´re not with the right people, but I feel there is a misconception of these poor areas of rio as portrayed in City of God and the like.

These are communities of passionate, freindly and welcoming people... it is the divide between rich and poor and the drugs that causes violence...

Rochina is the largest favela in the whole of South America; a spectacular place of buildings falling down the mountainside. My perception had been that these were the shanty towns of rio, but that isn´t the case. These areas house the hard working class of the city - the cooks, the cleaners, the hotel workers - who need to be close to their work in order to keep their jobs and survive.